SKN shows increase in exports amidst serious CIC concerns

BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – THE Federation has been reported as the largest exporting country in the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) for 2008, but the local Chamber of Industry and Commerce has warned that the upward trend may not continue if the global economic crisis continues. 

Although the smallest independent nation within the collection of the OECS and Barbados, the twin-island Federation recorded in excess of US $54 million in exports to the US and outdid all its regional counterparts in the past year.

In his March monthly press conference, St. Kitts-Nevis Prime Minister Hon. Dr. Denzil Douglas commended the workers of Lutron Liamigua, Harowe Servo Controls Ltd, Kajola Kristada, CSR and DDL, the St. Kitts Brush Company and Caribelle Batik for their diligence in producing “high quality of products with a high level of efficiency”.

 “Not only did the dependability, diligence and proficiency of these workers enable St. Kitts-Nevis to be the largest exporter [in that region], but US $54 million in exports for which these workers and their companies are responsible is greater than the exports of Antigua-Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, St. Lucia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines all combined together,” Douglas said. 

While the reported growth of the export industry in St. Kitts-Nevis is certainly good news for business owners worried about the global economic downturn, the Chamber of Industry and Commerce (CIC) recently warned that 2009 will be a difficult year for the Federation’s exporters. 

“We have seen the reduction in our orders and we have responded in lay-offs based on the forecast for the first and second quarters for 2009. Some factories have been holding out, but if things get worse, then we may have further layoffs. All companies would like to hold on to base workers but the crisis is affecting us in ways we did not plan for,” CIC Manufacturing Division Director Carol Evelyn recently said. 

Exports did show a significant increase of 5339 tons between 2007 and 2008 to reach a total of 20,201 tons of exports for St. Kitts in 2008, but that number pales in comparison to the number of imports to the Federation. 

According to the Department of Finance and Statistics at the St. Christopher Air and Sea Ports Authority, imports increased by 50,963 tons in 2008—nearly a whopping ten times the export increase—to reach an imported tonnage of 326,562 for the year. 

The Prime Minister remained confident, however, that if the Federation stayed its course in the manufacturing sector, the nation would be able to see a “real and dramatic impact on the economic wellbeing of the people of Federation of St. Kitts-Nevis” in spite of the global crisis.